Pendrell marches from Mermaid Parade to Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce

Timothy C. Pendrell, former director of development for Coney Island USA in Brooklyn, N.Y., is scheduled to start duties as executive director of Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce on July 8.Pendrell has been a member of the executive team organizing the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. The parade, considered the larg...

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By Dan Swanson

Nebraska City News-Press - Nebraska City, NE

By Dan Swanson

Posted Jun. 27, 2013 at 10:38 AM
Updated Jun 27, 2013 at 10:54 AM

By Dan Swanson

Posted Jun. 27, 2013 at 10:38 AM
Updated Jun 27, 2013 at 10:54 AM

Nebraska City

Timothy C. Pendrell, former director of development for Coney Island USA in Brooklyn, N.Y., is scheduled to start duties as executive director of Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce on July 8.

Pendrell has been a member of the executive team organizing the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. The parade, considered the largest in the world, is credited for drawing 750,000 people to Coney Island last year.

Tyler Avery, NCTC board president and member of the organization's selection team, said Pendrell's experience, education and background in south Omaha make him a great fit for Nebraska City's mission.

The Nebraska City Chamber of Commerce became NCTC under the leadership of Jim Johnston in 2008 and Avery said it grew in membership and events under Rebecca Turner.

Avery said he sees Pendrell taking an administrative role as NCTC continues to grow address the community's needs.

John R. Palmtag, deputy Otoe County attorney, studied at Oxford with Pendrell and asked for his assistance last year in an attempt to revive the Memorial Building with donor funds.

Palmtag said Pendrell mentioned an interest in Nebraska City and has been looking for an opportunity for the past couple of years to return to southeast Nebraska.

A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Pendrell earned his masters in urban planning from New York University and served an internship with the New York Department of Transportation.

Pendrell's recent work includes participation in a Hurricane Sandy relief granting organization, managing three spring fundraising galas and managing four Mermaid Parade Balls at the New York Aquarium.

Pendrell also worked with the transportation department in New York to evaluate pedestrian conditions and implement the city's bike share program and pedestrian safety plazas.

He was also a researcher for the Ford Foundation in New York and a project associate for Enterprise Community Investment in Cleveland, Ohio.

Pendrell, an aide in Mayor Don Wesely's office in Lincoln in 2001, was a former Omaha candidate for state senate in 2002 and worked on the Seng for Mayor campaign in Lincoln in 2003. He was an AmeriCorps Vista Habitat for Humanity volunteer in Omaha in 2009.

His international experience includes Nebraska at Oxford and Peking University in 2007, Vietnam Today Nationwide in 2006 and SANN Research Institute in Nepal in 2005.

In a letter to the NCTC search committee, Pendrell said he is responsible for tripling the size of the Coney Island USA membership program and was co-chair of its fundraising committee.

He said his background in urban planning fits the role to oversee Nebraska City's Main Street Program.